ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The Association of the U.S. Army will undergo a leadership change on July 1, with retired Army Gen. Carter F. Ham succeeding retired Army Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan as president and CEO.

Sullivan, the 32nd Army Chief of Staff who retired from active service in 1995 after more than 36 years of service, has led the nonprofit, educational association since January 1998.

He’ll remain as a senior fellow with AUSA’s Institute of Land Warfare.

"I’ve been proud for 18½ years to lead a professional organization dedicated to supporting the Army and all of its parts," Sullivan said. "We have an essential...

Patrick J. Murphy, a third-generation veteran and the first soldier to serve in the Iraq War elected to Congress, was officially sworn in as the 32nd under secretary of the Army in a Pentagon ceremony Feb. 24.

Murphy had been confirmed by the Senate as under secretary, Dec. 18, and legally sworn into the post, Jan. 4. Three days later, Jan. 7, he was appointed as acting secretary of the Army, effectively giving him dual-hat responsibility.

Before the 42-year-old Murphy took the oath administered by Army General Counsel Alissa M. Starzak, the ceremony’s hosts, the Army chief of staff, Gen. Mark A...

Readiness is the Army’s top priority because "readiness wins wars," Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said.

Readiness also deters wars by making potential adversaries think twice before attacking, he added.

"Our Army has never been the largest in a war and, at times, we have not been the best equipped," Milley told the Senate Appropriations Committee in late February.

"But since World War II, we have recognized that ready soldiers properly manned, trained, equipped and led, can beat larger or more determined forces whether confronting the barbaric arts of ISIS or the desperation of North...

The lifecycle of AUSA’s grassroots work – from the creation of its annual legislative resolutions to the creation of the next set of resolutions – has a significant impact on the Association’s platform for the year.

The resolutions are produced annually and act as the basis for our annual legislative objectives.

Chapters or individual members may submit proposed resolutions until mid-December of each year.

The National Resolutions Committee membership, numbering five or more AUSA members, is nominated by chapters and approved by the Association’s Council of Trustees.

The committee members review...

Greetings from the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA), our Army’s association for education and professional development, and a major supporter of the Army’s Soldier for Life efforts.

This past year has come and gone and we are now focused on our annual Membership Report and why it is important to be part of the Association of the United States Army.

But the question we ask is: "Who should be part of the Association of the United States Army and why should I join?"

Interestingly, as I traveled this past year, I’ve had the honor to meet and work with a broad range of Association members who find...

One of our members recently commented on how quickly one can lose a feeling of a close connection to our Army.

Changes occur rapidly.

While he doesn’t expect to keep as current as he did while serving in uniform, he is a "Soldier for Life." He wants to stay engaged in supporting our Army’s current and future readiness.

While his transition to civilian life went very smoothly, it has been a surprise to learn how much his family members, even more than he, miss the connections that formed the basis of their lives while they were serving.

We understand.

In a sense, we are the U.S. Army’s extended...

The goal of achieving an expeditionary, uninterrupted mission command network is taking shape but is still "a work in progress," said Brig. Gen. Willard M. Burleson III.

Burleson, director, Mission Command Center of Excellence, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, spoke Feb. 11 at the Association of the United States Army-sponsored Hot Topic forum on air and missile defense during a panel discussion titled "Networked Mission Command."

Before diving into the details of what’s been accomplished with the network thus far, Burleson described the importance of the network to warfighting.

First and foremost...

USA’s Institute of Land Warfare (ILW) has recently released a new publication.

"African Horizons: The United States Army Working Toward a Secure and Stable Africa," National Security Watch 16-1, 1 Feb. 2016, by Douglas W. Merritt, examines the security environment in Africa and the U.S. Army’s role on the continent.

Today’s security environment is more volatile and unstable than ever before.

The velocity of change within certain regions of the world is quite evident; the nightly news vividly captures the images.

There are, however, regions that are just as volatile but do not receive the attention...

Nominations to serve on the Association the U. S. Army’s Council of Trustees were submitted by the national nominating committee to the council’s executive committee for consideration at its meeting in late January.

Four serving council members, Hon. Rudy deLeon; Command Sgt. Maj. Steven R. England, USA Ret.; John D. Harris II; and Phebe N. Novakovic, were nominated to serve additional three-year terms on AUSA’s governing body.

In addition, Thomas W. Rabaut, the council’s deputy chairman, was nominated to serve an additional two-year term in that position.

If members wish to make an additional...

The 32nd Annual Army Ten-Miler, the third largest 10-mile race in the world, will take place on Sunday, Oct. 9, starting and finishing at the Pentagon.

For the first time in its history, the Army Ten-Miler will not be held on the Sunday prior to the Monday opening of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition that will be held this year Oct. 3 – 6, a week earlier than the race.

This occurred because the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the meeting site, was not available on the traditional date, and the race route was not available on Oct. 2. – which would have...

The recently released report from the National Commission on the Future of the U.S. Army provides a rare opportunity to address risky capability shortfalls, reinforce the Total Force concept and convince a skeptical Congress and American public there are limits to how small the Army should shrink.

We at the Association of the U.S. Army see two important near-term outcomes:

First, we see the chance to stop and hopefully reverse force structure cuts.

There is a clear warning in the report of the risks of reducing the Army below 980,000 soldiers in the Total Force.

We hope this congressionally...

Improving security and training, conducting expeditionary maneuver operations, ensuring interoperability and integrating fires are among the key challenges facing the Army Air and Missile Defense (AMD) community.

Between growing threats and shrinking budgets, "the operational environment presents significant challenges to the AMD force," said Col. Robert L. Kelley, capability manager, Army Air and Missile Defense Command, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Speaking at an Air and Missile Defense Hot Topic forum hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare, Kelley...

Demand for air and missile defense capabilities continues to increase as a result of threats big and small, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command said at an Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic forum on Feb. 11.

Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, who is also commanding general of the Army Forces Strategic Command, said the U.S. needs capability to respond to big threats such as ballistic missiles and rocket systems, and also smaller threats from inexpensive unmanned aerial systems that can be cheaply purchased on the open market.

Like other parts of the Army, air and...

Today and in future conflicts, the U.S. Army fights in conjunction with partners and allies, making forward stationed units and equipment critical to maintaining an advantage, a panel of experts said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Hot Topic forum on air and missile defense (AMD) Feb. 11.

"To enhance our allies’ capacity and capability, forward presence is needed," said Brig. Gen. Keith McNamara, USA, Ret., director of business development for the Raytheon Company.

McNamara added that current network capability must adapt to integrate partners and allies.

Col. Gregory Brady, deputy...

he House Armed Services Committee is considering bipartisan legislation to prevent the Regular Army from dropping below 480,000 soldiers, a level 5,000 soldiers greater than the Army’s fall target.

By Oct. 1, the Regular Army is expected to fall to 475,000 soldiers on a downslope that would leave the Army with just 450,000 soldiers on active duty by Oct. 1, 2018.

Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., a Desert Storm, Kosovo and Iraq War veteran and former U.S. Military Academy professor, and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s tactical air and land forces subcommittee...